What's so meaningful is that the person who gave Gu Zhusheng the highest score in this evaluation was Fan Hongde.

In such friendly exchange competitions, each sect usually scores its own disciples slightly lower, or at most the same as others, in order to show its magnanimity and breadth of mind. It is rare to see a sect give its own disciples a higher score.

Fan Hongde's actions inevitably raise suspicions. He gave the lowest reward to disciples from other sects, but the highest reward to his own disciples. This time, the Divine Cauldron Sect seems to have lost its composure as the number one alchemy sect.

However, the scoring is entirely within the judges' power. Although everyone on and off the stage may have expressed their disdain for the matter, it was only in their hearts.

After the comprehensive evaluation, his score was 7 points for quality, 5 points for pill yield, and 7 points for pill yield time. However, because he refined a second-tier pill, his score was increased by 30%, bringing his total score to 24 and 7 points.

The score wasn't low, but it was slightly lower than the Seven Masters of Lianfeng who had just been evaluated.

A tiny difference in points can make a difference of seven places!

Fan Hongde couldn't sit still any longer. He stood up abruptly and said, "This rating is unfair! Gu Zhusheng refined the most difficult Foundation Establishment Pill among the second-grade pills. How can it be compared to the simplest first-grade Spirit Recovery Pill!"

Upon hearing this, the disciples of the six sects, who had just been muttering about him, immediately began to discuss it aloud.

What's going on with the Divine Cauldron Sect? They're questioning the evaluation system just because their own performance isn't good?

[In the past, the Divine Cauldron Sect was always in first place, so it wasn't a big deal. Now that they've lost their first place, their true nature has been exposed.]

[This person only allows themselves to be at the top of the list, and causes a scene whenever someone else takes the lead!]

[Luckily, I didn't go to the Divine Cauldron Sect back then; I couldn't afford to lose face like that!]

[If they can go so far as to replace a person's spiritual root, what kind of grand sect is the Divine Cauldron Sect?]

...

Shu Yuanguan sneered and stood up as well, saying, "I have a few questions that I need Sect Leader Fan to answer."

Fan Hongde looked at him but didn't say anything, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"First question: The Six Sects Grand Competition has continued for hundreds of years, and the scoring criteria have been used to this day. The regulations stipulate that second-tier pills, regardless of type, will add 30% to the base score. Can our procedures today contradict the rules set by our ancestors?"

The second question: If Sect Master Fan thinks that the Foundation Establishment Pill refined by Gu Zhusheng is the most difficult among the second-tier pills, then why not choose the simplest one? After all, Sect Master Fan, as a judge for many years, is very familiar with this scoring rule!

The third question is, if the rules are changed today because of Master Fan's commotion, then is the entire Past Realms Alchemy Competition based on this scoring standard unreasonable? Can everyone question and overturn the established results for various reasons?

The fourth question: In the scoring process for all contestants, only Sect Leader Fan stood out, giving high scores to his own disciples and low scores to disciples from other sects. Does this mean you are inherently an unfair judge?

Fan Hongde blushed at Shu Yuanguan's questions but didn't know how to refute them. In truth, he already had the answer in his heart as Shu Yuanguan continued to ask questions.

First, the Six Schools of Alchemy Competition is already a mature scoring mechanism that has been used for hundreds of years, leaving him no room for criticism.

Secondly, he was fully aware of the scoring rules, and the Foundation Establishment Pill was indeed Gu Zhusheng's most proficient second-tier pill.

Third, they have always been number one in the past. If this is changed, what if the second-place winner from previous years comes out and requests a re-evaluation? After all, in previous years, there have been people from their Divine Cauldron Sect who defeated high-level pills with low-level pills.

Fourth, as for why he gave his own sect a high score, it's because the first place was already taken by the Lianfeng Sword Sect. If the second place were also taken, where would his Shending Sect, the number one sect in alchemy, stand?

He remained silent, only glancing in the direction where the sect leader was sitting. When faced with a difficult decision, one should see what the host intends to say.

Lv Changyi, the sect leader of Fuyuan Sect, laughed and stood up, saying, "Everyone, our Qian Yuan Western Region Six Sects Grand Competition has a long history. Its purpose is to allow the younger generation to learn from each other and not limit their vision to their own small area."

Why is it that among the six sects of ours, which encompass alchemy, talismans, artifacts, formations, swords, and magic, only the alchemy sect has this grand event, aside from the formal competition? It's because it's to determine the number of disciples who will go to the Silver Frost Secret Realm.

The Silver Frost Secret Realm is most beneficial to alchemists, so we will take this opportunity of the Alchemy Competition to exchange ideas amicably and win a few spots for our own team.

The first place now belongs to the Lianfeng Sword Sect, and the Shending Sect is undoubtedly second. Whether the score is high or low doesn't affect the final result.

That's a very tactful way of putting it. Your sect is already set to be second, so what does the ranking of a few individual disciples matter? A sect this big isn't going to be concerned with a few measly individual rewards.

Fan Hongde clenched his fists and took a step back. He simply couldn't swallow this insult. If Gu Zhusheng's score had been just a little higher, he could have gotten second place. But now, a mere hair's breadth made all the difference.

There are seven identical scores above!

In the Six Sects Alchemy Grand Competition, their Divine Cauldron Sect didn't even make it into the top eight. How could they possibly save face? Normally, all the promising alchemists would come to their Divine Cauldron Sect, but now that the competition results are out, will next year's new disciples all have to go to the Gathering Edge Sword Sect to become alchemists?

Is he only thinking about the gains and losses of this one city or one battle?

But the outcome is already decided, and no matter how unwilling you are, you can't change the established facts.

Fan Hongde had no choice but to return to his original position. There was still one last bottle of pills left to be reviewed, which belonged to his daughter, Fan Mingzhu.

He already had a good idea of ​​what to do with the pill, since he had failed to make it the first time, and he had lost too many points just in terms of time.

However, the actual situation was even worse than he had imagined. Not only did the pill fail to form a second time, but the beauty pill that came out was a pitch-black mass, barely forming the shape of a pill. It was truly the lowest of the lowest-grade pills. Even if it were given away for free in the market, no one would dare to eat it. Whether it would beautify the skin or ruin it was still uncertain.

Fan Hongde's expression grew even uglier. He realized that nothing had gone smoothly during this Alchemy Competition! Shi Xuan was exposed for changing his spiritual root, losing his long-held Alchemy Competition title. The appearance of the Radiant Dao Seal, which wasn't from his Divine Cauldron Sect, and his daughter, who had changed to a top-grade spiritual root, had refined such a low-grade pill... One thing after another, none of them were pleasant!

In this alchemy competition, their Divine Cauldron Sect truly lost face and reputation completely!

The results are in: Lianfeng Sword Sect has won big! Everyone looked at Shi Mingxiu and Shu Yuanguan with envy. Their sect must have been incredibly lucky this year. Where did they find such a new disciple? He even managed to produce the Radiant Light Dao Seal!

This is no longer just about winning the alchemy competition; once this news gets out, it will surely cause a sensation throughout the entire cultivation world!